LEADER JEFFRIES ON BLOOMBERG: "REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP HAS MADE CLEAR THEY HAVE NO INTENTION TO EXTEND THE ACA TAX CREDITS"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on Bloomberg TV, where he made clear that as Republicans fail to fix their healthcare crisis and unleash extremism on the American people, House Democrats will continue fighting to lower the high cost of living and protect the healthcare of everyday Americans.
JOE MATHIEU: Thanks for joining us live from Capitol Hill on Bloomberg TV and Radio. I'm Joe Mathieu with an exclusive conversation with the Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Leader Jeffries, thanks for being back with us on Bloomberg. It's good to see you.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Morning, Joe. Good to see you.
JOE MATHIEU: Pretty important ruling in the Supreme Court when it comes to redistricting in the state of Texas that I'd like to start with here. It's open season, apparently, on redistricting. Does that mean every Democratic-led state in the country needs to redraw their maps?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, first of all, it's unfortunate that the Supreme Court has rubber stamped a racially-gerrymandered extreme map that Donald Trump ordered Texas Republicans to engineer as part of his effort to try to rig the midterm elections in 2026, but notwithstanding this adverse ruling, we're going to continue to move forward and ensure that there is a fair map across the country. California voters enacted Prop 50 and, as a result, we'll have a fair map in California with some additional opportunities to be competitive, and I expect that you'll see other states across the country continue to respond.
JOE MATHIEU: Will yours be one of them? Are you on the phone with Governor Hochul today saying it's time to redraw the New York map?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, the New York map has some particularities relative to the Constitution that won't necessarily allow it to be revisited in this particular cycle, but some voters have filed a lawsuit in New York, and we're monitoring that litigation closely to see what the outcome may be.
JOE MATHIEU: Okay, there's a question about whether you really need it. Leader Jeffries, after the special election in Tennessee on Tuesday, we saw a plus-22 Trump district go down to a plus-nine Trump district. And you've got a lot of armchair mathematicians out there suggesting that could mean as many as 30 or 35 seats for Democrats in the midterms. How do you see it?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Republicans know that if the elections were held today, they would lose. That's the reason why Donald Trump has decided to engage in this extreme effort to gerrymander congressional maps all across the country, and it's very unfortunate. Our view is that we're not going to unilaterally disarm, and we have to ensure that there's a fair map nationally, across the board, so that it's the voters who get to decide who is in the majority after the November 2026 election. Part of the challenge with Republicans is that they've broken all of their promises. They indicated that they were going to lower costs, in fact lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down in America, costs have gone up. Housing costs are through the roof. Grocery prices through the roof. Electricity bills through the roof. And now, because my Republican colleagues refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, we know tens of millions of people are about to experience dramatically-increased healthcare costs. Democrats are actually the party focused on driving down the high cost of living.
JOE MATHIEU: So let's talk about a couple of those points of leverage that you just pointed out, affordability and healthcare. Many would argue that it's kind of the same story here. President Trump has been saying that affordability is a Democrat hoax, a Democrat con job. Does that mean you do not have Republicans on board with you in reforming healthcare or extending Obamacare subsidies?
LEADER JEFFRIES: It appears that way. It's unfortunate that the President's position, which is the Republican Party's position, is that the affordability crisis in the United States of America is a con job and it's a hoax. No, what was a con job and hoax was the fact that Republicans spent all of last year claiming that they were going to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America, that they were a party committed to addressing the inflationary pressure that the American people were under. That's all they talked about last year, but they lied to the voters. That's the con job.
JOE MATHIEU: They lied?
LEADER JEFFRIES: They absolutely lied to the voters because there's no evidence throughout this year that they've had any intention to actually address the affordability crisis that exists. In fact, they now say it's all a hoax, but everyday Americans, when they go to the grocery store, the supermarket, when they see their healthcare premiums dramatically increasing, when they see the electricity bills that they have, which are through the roof in part because Republicans in their One Big Ugly Bill attacked the clean energy economy at a time in America where we have growing power needs in terms of what we see with the expansion of artificial intelligence. It's all extraordinary. So Republican leadership has made clear they have no intention to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and that's very unfortunate.
JOE MATHIEU: You know, the White House would say, hold on Leader Jeffries, this President has been working overtime to cut deals to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Does he deserve credit for that effort?
LEADER JEFFRIES: We haven't seen any evidence that prescription drug prices have gone down in any meaningful way. What we have seen are that the Trump tariffs are out of control. They've increased costs by thousands of dollars per year on everyday Americans, and they've created an uncertain environment for businesses and corporations throughout the country. And we know that uncertainty is one of the biggest problems that American corporations and companies may face. It's difficult to actually make investments when you have this chaotic environment that has been visited upon the economy.
JOE MATHIEU: So let's talk about what you can get done before the expiration of these subsidies at the end of the month. A bill was introduced yesterday, a framework that was bipartisan, a Democrat and a Republican, Gottheimer and Kiggans. It would extend these subsidies for a year and put new collars on eligibility. Is this a path to renewal in your eyes?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we'll have to take a look at the particulars and the four corners of that bill. 214 Democrats have signed a discharge petition that will extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years and give the American people the certainty that they need in order to move forward during these otherwise uncertain times. All we need are four Republicans. There are 219 of them. All we need are four House Republicans to join us and we can extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. We also want to take a look at what happens in the Senate. I'm thankful for Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats who will put a bill forward next week and force an up-or-down vote on an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. You know, we're in this fight until we win this fight on behalf of the American people because in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it cannot be the case that working class Americans and middle class Americans are unable to afford to go see a doctor when they need one.
JOE MATHIEU: Are you in touch with the Speaker of the House on this? Is Mike Johnson talking to you about a potential vote after John Thune promised a vote on healthcare in the Senate for next Thursday?
LEADER JEFFRIES: You know, the big challenge with House Republicans has been that they've adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach. They have zero interest in actually sitting down and finding a bipartisan path forward. We've said from the very beginning of this year and throughout the Trump-Republican shutdown that we will sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace, here in the Capitol or go back to the White House, sit with the President to try to figure out how we can fix our broken healthcare system and address the Republican-created healthcare crisis that's devastating people all across America. They've refused repeatedly to sit down and even try to find common ground, apparently because they really are uninterested in dealing with an extension in the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Joe, as you know, this is the same group of people who have actually tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 times over the last 15 years.
JOE MATHIEU: So could we be in a world in which there's a healthcare bill that passes the Senate and dies in the House?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, if there's a bill that passes the Senate, there will be tremendous pressure on Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise and House Republicans to bring that bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote, and the votes will exist in the House of Representatives. I call upon some of my Republican colleagues, more traditional conservative colleagues, or the so-called swing seat Republicans to actually press their leadership to give the people of this country an up-or-down vote on something meaningful that will extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
JOE MATHIEU: Just lastly, President Trump today will be receiving, we understand, the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. Does Donald Trump deserve credit, as he says, for ending eight wars?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, it's unclear what eight wars he's talking about. What the American people clearly want to see from this President is action related to the challenges that we face in this country—lowering the high cost of living, fixing our broken healthcare system, making life better for everyday Americans. That's the Democratic commitment, that we actually should deliver on the promises that Republicans made to lower the high cost of living, but refuse to address in a country that's the wealthiest in the history of the world, but there are far too many people who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, can't thrive, can barely survive. And that should not be the case in this great country. We should allow for a situation where every single person who works hard and plays by the rules can afford to live a comfortable life, live the good life, good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children and ultimately, at the end of the day, a good retirement. That's the American dream. We need to bring it to life for every single American.
JOE MATHIEU: Democratic Leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries. Leader, thank you for being with us today once again on Bloomberg.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you.
Full interview can be watched here.